I can’t think of one individual that was particularly happy with 2008 to say the least, but 2009 is not a cure all as the new year comes in. There’s still a lot of clean up and rethinking on how we live and work to come through.

As the article states, fixing what is broken is first on the list. I think I started feeling this in the Spring of 2008, being the geek and code head that I am and believe it or not, knowing how business functions and the ability to foresee combination of efforts from the technology and data side of things I believe gives me a bit of a head start, or at least it seems that way. In other words, things are not coming as a surprise to me as data technology and transparency is on the move as the ability to keep things under the rug these days is almost non-existent nor possible, those inquiring servers and minds always want to know.

One of the comments that sticks out in my mind is that which mentions there’s a new piece of technology out EVERY DAY to help either diagnose, treat, or offer some type of better health care, I know, I post a lot of them here on the blog!

One other item mentioned here is the amount of time we spend online, which of course is increasing all the time, but having the ability to balance what is online and the real world can be a challenge as I can attest for that as well, as something I work at all the time. With all the various worlds I seem to visit online, it is a balancing act. Sometimes Twitter irritates me, sometimes I am happy with the information found, same with Facebook, Friend Feed, and the other social networks out there.

I see a lot of content every day and read quite a bit and go from let’s say the world of gadgets and technology back to healthcare problems and issues. Sometimes I see the gadget folks not having one single clue as to the urgency of what is happening in healthcare and see only a bliss world of those wrapped up in technology and gadgets. On the other hand, I communicate with those in healthcare that don’t like gadgets and barely understand technology so there can be a rub on both sides, and my wish at times would be to get both worlds together to share, but again with individual focuses on the internet, that might be hard to do at times, although some just normally cross over though and visit the other side.

The Internet has done one thing probably better than any other single element today and that is choice, we have more choices today than we ever have had, and there’s no sign of that stopping anytime soon, so many choices that it can make the selection process a tedious job too! That applies to purchasing any product on the web, social sites, dating sites, you name it, and sadly but true when faced with too many choices, as the old saying goes we often leave “empty handed” or far from reaching any type of level of satisfaction and/or feeling of accomplishment too.

In 2009 we will have a lot of disruptive people in our face, which will continue on from 2008, simply due to the economic times and mismanagement of business that has been the ruling factor of the past. Reading and increasing one’s knowledge base can be a big help, as we all fear the unknown, and with fear comes anger. Sometimes who ever seems to be in our path at the time is the one who gets it, even though we have no beef with that person, but need to blow.

In real life I experience frustration of others frequently since I like technology and usually the one who is upset is one that resents what technology is doing, and granted there is intrusive technology out there to irritate us, but be kind to your fellow human and see what a geek might be able to teach you instead of being angry with the “piano player”, as well all learn from each other and there’s no going backward at this point too.

In 2009 the number of choices we have will continue to grow and so will the number of filters we have in life, in 2009 rebooting with added filters is going to be the key to survival as well as returning to values, the value of your fellow human being and how to relate with out “text box”or gadget too, even though those are great to fill in the gaps and stay in touch, gadgets and non emotional and expressions should not be allowed to take over and rule, otherwise, well we end up with some of the most connected and yet disconnected people walking the face of the earth without a clue on what to do when they meet another human eye to eye. BD

"2009 is going to be the year we totally reboot," she said. "The system is totally down. It's like the Kennedys as we know them, we're going to reboot with Caroline. The presidency as we know it, we're going to reboot with Obama. And the American city as we know it is over and we're going to reboot with Chicago."

Salzman researched and wrote her 2009 trend predictions in a report titled "Intellect Dialogue: Change is Now," for the Porter Novelli public relations firm. After studying everything from quantitative research reports to Facebook posts, Salzman isn't forecasting any quick fixes to our country's problems. But her predictions do have a few bright spots, such as a return to civility, improvements in health care, and a worldwide appreciation of Chicago.

A return to values:

The age of less-is-more is here. Value will be placed on how people live their life and not on what they own, where they live or what they do for a living.

Luxury is out, and more attention will be paid to corporate behavior and environmental issues, Salzman says. Listen for more consumers to say, "I'm not paying for all those extra features, I just need the basics."

Taking risks to change health care.

With so much money to be made in this field, change is on the horizon. Personalized medicine, technology and genetic analysis will make medical treatment far more effective, focused and cost-efficient, Salzman predicts.

Money is already being invested in biomedical and genetic enhancement, which some consider "the new space race," the report says. Plus, patents will expire for many brand-name drugs, so cheaper generics are on the way.

"Things are definitely changing," Heim said. "Every day there's a new piece of technology that makes it faster and easier to take care of patients, to diagnose them, and to treat them if necessary."

Living in your "Third Place."

It's not work, and it's not home. Your "Third Place" is your personal den of 21st century media (your choices of Web sites, blogs, DVDs, etc.) where you retreat from the world, connect with people, explore, learn, have fun or fantasize. A big appeal of the Third Place is that it's free and accessible 24/7 from anywhere in the world.

"It's going to be a parallel universe," Salzman said. "We're going to see an explosion. As we spend less time shopping, it's only logical we'd look for other places to be."

Dark Arts of Mathemical Deception

Professor Charlie Siefe of NYU, a mathematician debunks clinical trials, and few other items to where data is spun and fools you, every day example, hear about the perfect butt algorithm and more. These are probably some things you have never thought about but again after listening to what he has to say, it’s time to think about being skeptical. Here’s a radio show that also talks about the same topics.

This video digs in a bit further with how fictitious business models are used by banks and companies do this too. The models are so complex that CEOs don’t even understand them. “Quants, The Alchemists of Wall Street will take you through how “math models” work at banks and financial institutions in a way that even the layman can understand. More videos like over at theAlgo Duping/Killer Algorithm Page. Bank of America will also tell you“IT’ is a business” how they make money.

Weapons of Math Destruction

This is a lecture where Kathy O’Neill, a former Quant who worked for a Hedge Fund (Weapons of Math Destruction) on Wall Street will tell you what is done with your retirement money and more. The banks and companies use technology to take advantage because they can. “Of course we are going to take advantage because our tools are our brains…if they could figure out a way to take advantage of pension funds they would, a good interview with explaining smart money and dumb money.

Algorithms Shape The World

This is a very good presentation done a TED Conference and really was the one that got everyone started thinking about algorithms and today it’s talked about a lot. As he says “if you’re an algorithm, life is looking pretty good, but can’t say the same for humans”. What is a black box? Nobody has any control over the flash crash. We have moved forward a bit but still we are writing the unreadable and lost the sense of some of what is happening. Nice plug for Nanex here with research.